Year 3 with my 2005 C230K is coming to a close. I've posted observations from the years at each year end, so I'll try to keep this post strictly related to July 2010 - July 2011 and touch on maintenance costs, experiences, and problems.

Maintenance:

08/24/10 - 87,823 - tire rotation across axles $0.00
11/11/10 - 94,565 - New front brake pads and sensor, coolant top-up with 325.1 MBZ coolant, new air filter, and 1 new wiper because 1 broke. Parts cost $121.25 from RMEuropean. Labor cost $112.36 at my indy, including a $36 charge to investigate front end popping. Total: $233.61
11/13/10 - 94,764 - Oil change. Parts were $52 and labor was $0 due to it taking an hour. Local Nissan dealer, as always.
1/20/11 - 100,816 - Transmission fluid change using Fuchs Titan 4134 fluid, new thermostat, new transmission mount, new fuel filter, new spark plugs, and Drew's 2007 SS rims installed. Parts cost $143.59 for transmission materials, $93.89 for fuel filter, plugs, and mount and $29.38 for the thermostat from MB of South Atlanta. Labor cost at my indy was $470.57, including $40 for mount and balance of the new rims. Total: $747.43
4/08/11 - 107,565 - Oil change. Parts were $34, labor was $9.75. Total: $43.75
6/6/2011 - 111,145 - New Kumho Ecsta ASX tires installed. Cost $440.80 for the tires and $40.00 for labor. Total : $480.80

3YTD: $1,557.59

Problems:

Front end pop from steering rack bushings. Solved by lubricating bushings with silicone.

Thermostat failure, Check Engine code P0128, engine temp on gauge could not get above 80C. Replaced.

SRS error in June, seems passenger seat sensor was haywire - flashed seatbelt light randomly with empty passenger seat... happened 1 day and not again since.

Twice it has given me the "Turn signal, right mirror" error. This happened before and the unit was replaced. Waiting on it to become constant before remedying it.

Transmission mount, broken at 40,000 and again at 100,000, broken again now. Anyone have any idea why the car would continue to destroy transmission mounts? It is not officially diagnosed, but when it happened the first time the car was under warranty and the symptom was specific - scraping noise during acceleration over rough or wavy pavement. After replacing the transmission mount, it was gone until it came back at around 95,000. I had it replaced with a new mount at 100,000 and the noise was gone again until it has again resurfaced at about 111,000. Anyone have ideas?

Transmission shifts sometimes sloppy, probably going to have the fluid changed again soon or flushed entirely.



Car has 113,857 miles today. Runs the same it always has, looks better now than this time last year thanks to the 07 rims, is still solidly reliable, and I still enjoy driving it. What more can I ask for?





The Benz mingles with other vehicles at my office.

 

Not bad at all but the transmission mount going is interesting. As far as I know mine is original so that is strange I have not heard of anyone with mount issues before really.

 

"Front end pop from steering rack bushings. Solved by lubricating bushings with silicone."

Could you elaborate a bit more on this Matt? I might have the same problem. Symptoms include a rattling kind of noise while going over consecutive sharp bumps and a stretching/creaking sound while going over speed bumps as the suspension stretch and compress. Seems like its coming from the front right.

Where exactly did you spray silicone to fix it?

Much appreciated.

 

That is nothing like my issue. My car has no creaking/stretching/rattling issues from the front end even over sharp bumps. My issue was a "pop pop pop" noise in low speed turns, like backing out of a parking spot.

Silicone was sprayed on the steering rack bushings by my indy. That's all I know.. it solved the issue.

 

OK thanks. Doesnt seem like the same issue.